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24-Hour Race sold out. - Strategy for next week - General Discussion? (Read 105 times)

    Evidently, 24-hour racing is gaining some in popularity because this race had 200 slots, and they completely sold out this year for the first time.  http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=17882

     

    I am making this post because I have this race in 1 week, and I am trying to put together a pace strategy before the race, as opposed to doing what I did in my one other attempt a year ago, which failed early at the 40 mile/12 hour mark. :-)  Last year I had little training prior to the race, and I also messed up by  "running till I could run no more, then jogging 'till I could jog no more, then walking 'till I could walk no more".  IE.  An absolutely terrible strategy.  Banking miles early by running too fast is a ridiculous idea in a 24-hour it seems!

     

    This year, I have a plan that starts out slow, and I have broken the race into three 8-hour segments.  To meet my goal of about 80 miles this year, I have set out a rough plan to mix jogging/walking from the beginning and have a plan to average 4.3 mph overall for the first 8-hour segment, 3.5 mph for the second 8-hour segment, and 3.0 mph for the third 8-hour segment.  That'll get me about 80 miles.

    -- Since I am still new to this, I can only assume that I will not be able to keep the same pace at the 8-16hour mark that I could in the first segment, and same again for the 16-24 hour portion I imagine I will be at an even slower pace.

     

     

    -- Now, this does leave open the possibility that once I get moving, I may find that I do not tire as much as expected in the 8-16 hour segment, or the 16-24 hour segment.  If that is the case, then even completing 100 miles remains a possibility if I have more energy than expected and am able to keep a faster pace than my initial plan accounts for in the second and third segments of the race.

     

    I could go on all day, I have been thinking on this alot!  But I am bringing plenty of food, gels, gatorade, and the other usual necessities I need for the longer runs.

     

    For any of the 24-hour or longer distance runners, any advice?  Opinions on the 'rough' plan?  Etc?

    The Plan '15 →   ///    "Run Hard, Live Easy."   ∞

    Teresadfp


    One day at a time

      "I could go on all day"

       

      I got a laugh out of that, since that's what you've signed up to do!  Big grin

        Lol, just noticed it :-)

        Yeah, if I keep the feet moving during this race as much as I have kept the mind moving in thinking about prep and strategy for this race, I'll have no issues !

        The Plan '15 →   ///    "Run Hard, Live Easy."   ∞

          plan to average 4.3 mph overall for the first 8-hour segment, 3.5 mph for the second 8-hour segment, and 3.0 mph for the third 8-hour segment.  That'll get me about 80 miles.

           

          The point of view from mid-pack:

           

          I think you will find it very difficult to stick to this plan because all paces are too slow relative to your abilities.  4.3 mph is a not unreasonably brisk walking pace.  3 mph is a plodding death march -- it takes an enormous level of mental determination to maintain forward progress for 8 hours knowing that you will cover less than a marathon.  The important part of the plan is how to get these average speeds, not the speeds themselves.  Is that run for 4 hours, then walk for 4 hours, or run for 4 minutes/walk for 4 minutes. You don't mention how you will get these average paces, some mix of running and walking surely, but have you practiced this yet?

           

          Go out for a 1.5-2 hour run this weekend at planned 24 hour starting pace.  I personally think starting with run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes is a great mid-pack starting pace, but some prefer 25/5.  Set the countdown timer on your stopwatch for 10 minutes -- the beeping at the end is always your signal to take a break, so that you will look forward to it.  I usually run the first 10 minutes and then start the 8/2 mix.  If you are thinking of doing something like this, do it for every run this week, not just a single practice run. It will simultaneously aid your taper and get your legs ready for a lot of walking.

           

          The running portion should be at a very easy pace, such as a recovery pace.  The walking should be a moderate power walk with non-trivial arm movement.  You may find that you are getting 5-5.5 mph with such a mix initially.  Breathing is important.  If you find that your breath is becoming labored towards the end of the running interval, i.e. breathing harder than you would during the middle of a marathon, that is a sign to drop down a notch, to 7 minutes running, 3 minutes walking.  If, during the 23rd hour, you are running 1 minute, walking 9, that is still a victory, because it means that you were able to keep going and are probably close to 100 miles.

           

          There is an additional psychological benefit, as you will fall to the bottom 1/4 of the standings, most likely, during the first 4-6 hours, but then you will start passing the people that ran until they couldn't run and are now walking until they give up.  There will always be someone that you will be near catching until very, very late in the race.

           

          Eat and drink while moving, during the walking intervals.  If you eat something solid and heavy, like a hamburger, walk for the entire 10 minute interval.  Don't sit down, unless you are getting treatment for blisters.  Do treat blisters, hot spots, and chafing immediately.  If possible,weigh yourself every 2-4 hours, to know if you are becoming dehydrated or hyponatremic (more than 3% different from starting weight).

           

          Good luck, sir.

               Seilerts, I appreciate your advice always.  There are a few folks who I have seen have superb advice. (bbhearn, a few others names that I can't remember right off hand because I am currently having a few beers post race I just did :-)  Speaking of which, I ran a half-marathon today, wasn't even going to run it hard since the 'big' goal race is the 24-hour next week.  But even though my PR in a half was previously 1:51, I lined up behind the 1:45 pacers and wanted to see how that felt, and would drop off if I felt I was overexerting at all.  Well, turns out, they carried me all the way to mile 10, they asked how I felt, I said "moderate effort at most, I still have alot left".  So they sent me off, said "Go for it!"  3 more miles, push out ahead!  And I finished the half in 1:43:something, a new PR by a full 8 minutes!  Man, I really thanked them at the end of the race when we met up again.  And post race I felt fully energized and ready to do more, no soreness or fatigue at all.  Felt fully ready to do another half.   Strange how things play out that way sometimes.

             

            So, back to the big race coming up:  I have alot more confidence about what I can do next week.  --My walk run strategy that I was planning was about an 8/2 pace.  I like the shorter intervals in that regard.  Since I feel so rested just a couple hours after this half I did, I will get out there tomorrow and employ your strategy of practicing the walk-run mix for a couple hours.  -- And I like your idea of eating while walking... The only other time I did a 24-hour, I sat and ate (took 15 minutes), but why sit and eat when you can walk and eat, IE, Keep moving as much as possible?!     And you mention "don't go for the top of the standings early", last year I was tempted to do that, ran for 3 hours with very little walking, and folks even told me on the course, "you are running too much!  Careful or you will burn out early!"  They were dead right, and all of them put up more miles than me in the end.

             

            Again, I appreciate it Seilerts.  I will roll your advice into my race day plan as I finalize it, and should be able to put up a decent number on my second ever 24-hour if no major issues pop up, which I don't think anything major will.

            The Plan '15 →   ///    "Run Hard, Live Easy."   ∞